Politics

Like a Doctorow/MacLeod Mashup

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An abandoned Soviet bunker in the Lithuanian countryside becomes a theme park:

Išgyvenimo drama opened in early 2008 to some controversy. Tourists pay 120 LTL ($US 220) each to step back into 1984 as a temporary USSR citizen for 2.5 hours. On entry, all belongings, including money, cameras and phones, are handed over and under the watchful eye of guards and alsatians, tourists change into threadbare Soviet coats and are herded through the bunker.

Experiences include watching TV programs from 1984, wearing gas masks, learning the Soviet anthem under duress, eating typical Soviet food (with genuine Soviet tableware) and even undergoing a concentration-camp-style interrogation and medical check.

The Soviet Bunker is not a theme park for the faint-hearted; all of the actors involved in the project were originally in the Soviet army and some were authentic interrogators…

Someone should write a travel book covering all these communistthemed tourist attractions in the former Soviet bloc, with ratings measuring each venue's levels of irony, horror, nostalgia, and educational value. Plus an appendix on visiting North Korea.